Gauthier’s Gamble Pays Off

In the end, the gamble worked and the Mighty Ducks are far better off today than they were only two weeks ago.

Pierre Gauthier, team president and general manager, made a risky move by leaving goalie Guy Hebert unprotected for Friday’s expansion draft. However, just as Gauthier hoped, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild decided Hebert’s no-trade clause and $3.6-million salary next season were too steep a price to pay.

Instead, the Ducks lost energetic winger Jeff Nielsen and defenseman Ladislav Benysek, a prospect who has been playing in his native Czech Republic, to Minnesota.

“OK, who’s taking me to Vegas?” Gauthier cracked Friday afternoon during a conference call with reporters. “I told you I’m a good gambler.”

Fact is, not all Gauthier has touched has turned to gold since he was hired two summers ago. The Ducks finished last in the competitive Pacific Division and missed the Stanley Cup playoffs last season. They still lack the depth and experience to contend for a championship. Too often the Ducks rely solely on the remarkable offensive talents of all-star wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne.

But there is an easily identifiable plan in place as Gauthier attempts to build the Ducks around Kariya and Selanne. It centers on establishing a versatile, mobile and hostile defensive corps, which is why Gauthier felt compelled to leave Hebert dangling in favor of protecting more of his skillful defensemen.

Gauthier could have protected Hebert and prospect Jean-Sebastien Giguere but would have been allowed to protect only three defensemen. Gauthier weighed his options and decided leaving Hebert unprotected was worth the risk.

After all, Gauthier started his overhaul of the Duck defense by reacquiring a defenseman, Oleg Tverdovsky, from the Phoenix Coyotes on draft day in 1999. Gauthier then promoted hard-hitting Russian Vitaly Vishnevski, the Ducks’ top pick in the 1998 draft, at midseason.

Gauthier continued to upgrade his blue line by trading for 6-foot-4 defenseman Patrick Traverse, sending the Ottawa Senators minor leaguer Joel Kwiatkowski on June 12. Two days earlier, Gauthier dealt a second-round pick to get Giguere, 23, from the Calgary Flames, who had no plans to protect the goalie in the expansion draft.

The bottom line: The Ducks added two players in Giguere and Traverse, kept Hebert and lost only one player--Nielsen--from their NHL roster.

“We’ve added to our club with the expansion process,” Gauthier said. “It turned out to be a successful process for us.”

If not for the expansion draft, Gauthier would not have had the opportunity to trade for Giguere and Traverse. But since neither Calgary nor Ottawa wished to part with Giguere and Traverse without getting something in return, Gauthier was able to make the deals.

Gauthier got lucky on another count Friday, when Columbus and Minnesota passed on versatile defenseman Pascal Trepanier. Keeping Trepanier softened the blow of losing Nielsen. Trepanier, who plays forward and defense, has the same hard-hitting style as Nielsen.

Not that Gauthier was sweating the possible loss of Trepanier. “I thought they might take Pascal, but I didn’t lose much sleep over it because we have so much depth on defense,” he said.

Gauthier refused to acknowledge feeling relieved after Hebert was not picked, but it was probably just an act. By keeping Hebert, the Ducks have their best goaltending depth since joining the NHL in 1993--provided, of course, that Hebert rebounds from a subpar 1999-2000 season in which he was 28-31-9 with a 2.51 goals-against average.

“He’ll bounce back,” Gauthier predicted. “I’m sure he will. I talked to Guy [Friday] morning and he was excited to be staying. He didn’t want to leave and we wanted him to stay.”

With Hebert acting as mentor to Giguere in Anaheim and Gregg Naumenko and Tom Askey continuing their progress in the minors next season, Gauthier said, “Goaltending is the strength of our team.”

Gauthier’s work is far from finished, however. The entry draft today and Sunday offers another chance to bolster the organization. The Ducks pick 12th overall and Gauthier is confident of finding a gem. Free agency begins July 1, although Gauthier says he is reluctant to pursue that avenue.

But it doesn’t mean he won’t try to acquire more offensive punch in an attempt to ease the burden shouldered by Kariya and Selanne.

At this point, improving the offense would appear to be Gauthier’s final task in what has already shaped up as a highly successful off-season.